Category: Pets

The Night Watch

Our cats Trixe and Boo sit behind the wooden shutters of my office window at night on January 30, 2021. Original: _CAM9513.arw

Boo has spent a lot of time with me this winter and at night has been trying to figure out how to open the window shutters after I close them. I suppose he has figured it out since after he starts rattling them I give up and open them enough so he can get behind them. On this night in January Trixie joined him for his watch. A couple of weeks later he sprang off my legs where he had been sleeping and ran to the window, this time I grabbed a flashlight and when I opened the shutters saw the local javelina family was paying us a visit. I went and woke Trixie and Sam and brought them in, Trixie squirmed and protested until she saw why I had disturbed her slumber. Boo had seen them before, not sure about Sam and Trixie, but they all sat transfixed as the family rooted around for mesquite seeds on the other side of the window.

A Quiet Moment

Our cats Emma and Sam in the cat tree in the dining room in July 2009. Original: _MG_6006.cr2

Emma and Sam spend a quiet moment in the cat tree in front of one of the picture windows in the summer of 2009. It didn’t stay quiet long, in a minute Emma snuck down and poked Sam from above. The sneak attack poke was a favorite game of theirs and fortunately they had each other to play it with as the much older Scout was not a fan.

No Peeking

Our cat Sam sits underneath the Christmas tree beside a box from Really Right Stuff on December 22, 2020. Original: _RAC1661.arw

We’re out of wrapping paper but the Tree Guardian makes sure there’s no peeking before Christmas morning! Although in this case I already know what’s inside this gift from my mom, it’s an L-bracket from Really Right Stuff for my Sony A6600 camera. I’ve had their sister bracket for my A6500 for a few years and love it. Most of my pet shots are handheld, as in this shot of Sam lit only by the lights of the tree, so I like that their brackets also feel good in the hand.

Slowing Down

Our cat Sam relaxes on top of the cat tree in the living room on October 4, 2020. Original: _RAW6040.arw

Sam has slowed down a bit in his 13th year. He still loves sleeping atop the cat tree but now he hops onto each level instead of jumping to the top in one fell swoop. He still grouses at me when I get home from work or a hike if I take too long to get settled, as he loves to jump into my lap and purr to beat the band.

One change over the past year, and I don’t know if it’s related to Ellie’s death or a coincidence of timing, is that when he first climbs aboard he likes to hang out as high on my body as he can, even up by my face if I’m reclining, before eventually going back to my lap or legs when he wants to fall asleep. As a youngster he considered that Scout’s space, and since he adored her he let her have her spot (she would have demanded it even if he didn’t). Perhaps now that all of the pets he grew up with are gone he’s feeling a little insecure, or he’s claiming it as his rightful space as the oldest, or maybe it’s just a change with age.

Sometimes he snuggles up behind my head but that’s usually when Trixie, who worships him as he did Scout, smushes her face into his when he’s not in the mood.